NotesI went to practice but watched rather than skating. I'm going to be on the travel team selection committee this weekend. I usually am not, as it's primarily coaches who do it, but as a team captain I am filling in for a coach. So I spent the practice watching others skate and thinking about the upcoming selection.

[quote="NatB"]Loving the log esp the food log! For those of us uneducated about roller derby whats scrimmaging?

Thanks! Scrimmaging is playing the actual game. Practices consist either of drills, where we practice specific skills, or scrimmages, where we break into teams and play the game. On Tuesdays (all-league practice) we do either all drills, or some drills then scrimmage; Thursdays (advanced practice) we do some drills then scrimmage; and Sundays (all-league practice) we just scrimmage for 3 hours.

NotesI have a team get-together right after work today somewhere across London, so no chance to do plyo or other exercise today. Everyone brought a bunch of snacky things like hummus, dips, bread, chips, Indian starters, salads, etc., and I ate a bunch of them! My teammates are so nice--they always make sure to get some vegan stuff and let me know what is and isn't vegan.

I've got two bouts this weekend--a public one with my league team against a Welsh league on Saturday, and a closed-door one with the A team against another league on Sunday. I'm a bit nervous about the first one (I'm captain) and excited about the second.

NotesI didn't make it to practice because I had lots of work to get done. Practice would take me out of the house from 6:30-11pm and I needed at least some of that time for working. I'm not happy about it, especially because I have the bouts coming up this weekend and would like to do some skating in the run up. Oh well.

NotesToday sucks! Got lots of work to get done and also had to spend a fair amount of time doing derby stuff for the bout tomorrow. It's 7pm the night before a bout (for which I am captain) and I'm still at work, missing a group dinner I was supposed to go to, with no end in sight. I feel like I'm not going to be able to give the proper thought and preparation to my captaining tomorrow.

I'd put off my work to the weekend, but it's going to be a busy one. The bout tomorrow will take up from around noon to close to midnight (we have to do set up, run the thing, and shut down so it's a full day). Then on Sunday I have to be on the other side of London for an 11am team selection meeting then go straight to a closed door bout in the afternoon and get home around 8:30pm. Will probably have to do some work Sunday night anyway as I know I can't get it all done now.

I feel very distracted and not in a good frame of mind for a pre-bout night.

NotesWe (a group of rollergirls) went to our first session with Dynamic Sports Academy. It was an intro session so a little easier than it will be in the future I'm sure. It was 2 hours long, and we rotated through 3 different sesssions: 1/2hr eye/vision training, 1/2hr speed, agility, and quickness training, and 1hr strength training. The strength really focused on legs and core, as that's what's most important for us. We did lots of squats (no weight--most people in the group don't lift) and some lunges and hamstring stuff and some abs. It was good. I'm excited about adding the weights as I don't have access to a squat rack and do only front squats at home. They have 3 squat racks.

We had about 30 people there, and we had the place just to our group. The coaches were great. It's a really amazing deal we got with them, and I'm excited to see how it progresses.

NotesIt was a frustrating practice. I had a meeting before it, but due to unforeseen complication we decided we couldn't do what we were there to do. I was a bit late, but went to skate. After half an hour, we were all called together again and spent the next hour talking about whether or not we could do it (we ended on no). So I missed most of the practice.

NotesI have a mild cold. It's not bad enough for me to take time off from anything, but it's a little annoying. For dinner, we're going to what is becoming our traditional Friday evening dinner at Loving Hut. Tomorrow I'm hoping we'll fit in weight lifting then are going to lead rec league in the evening. We've got a really derby filled week coming up. Leading rec league tomorrow, scrimmage practice Sun, DSA training Mon, meeting then practice Tues, Wed off (though will do plyo on my own), practice Thurs, and team practice Fri. Oh, then an off-skates team bonding on Sat. It's really a good thing my partner does derby as well or we'd never see each other.